Inside Apple R&D -- Apple Patents Realized

Apple’s touch keyboard makes a new appearance on a generous, two-million pixel slab.

There are secrets. Secrets you are not supposed to know about. Suppressed 200mpg automobile engines. Faster-than-light-speed travel technology we scavenged at Roswell. The location of Walt Disney’s cryogenically frozen body. The truth about the Masons. But none of these inspires as much discussion and theorizing as the one to which we turn our attention here: Apple’s next big product.

Apple develops products in an armored sanctuary from which not a word escapes, lest those responsible for the leak face the wrath of Steve Jobs. Call Apple for a comment on an upcoming release and you’ll be lucky to escape with your life.

But even Apple is bound by certain rules, thanks to Uncle Sam: If it wants to prevent competitors from knocking off its hardware, it has to file paperwork to legally protect the design of those gadgets. That means patent forms, full of pictures and descriptions, must be filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, often years before that hardware hits the market.

We unlocked the vault and scoured the USPTO’s database for a hint at what Steve’s next “one more thing” keynote reveal might be. Overall, we sifted through nearly 2,000 Apple patents, spanning 30 years of innovation. The paper cuts and bloodshot eyes paid off through a collection of the coolest, wildest, and weirdest inventions that Apple has ever come up with. Join us as we reveal the most tantalizing and, frankly, mind-boggling patents from the inner sanctum of Apple’s R&D lab, three of which we’ve taken from crude line drawing into the world of 3D mock-up, with our own photo-realistic designs.

Just this once, you’re free to tell everyone what you’ve seen.

Mac Tablet

Several patents granted from 2004 to 2008. ETA: 2010

Part MacBook, part iPhone. Could be on your desk in 2010.

Meet the flagship of Apple’s recent flurry of patent activity, a product some have been predicting Apple would release for years: the Mac tablet. This slate-format tablet is as portable as a MacBook Air, but with a twist: It also docks into an iMac for regular desktop work. This is no stuffy PC tablet; expect a fully thought-out interface and a specialized Mac OS update—as well as a treasure trove of innovations that could take this tablet from cool to downright phenomenal.

Based on existing technology, the tablet would feature iPhone-like multitouch, spanning the entire screen. Flitting through images and albums will be as easy as it is on the iPhone and the latest MacBook touchpads. And new gesturing patents granted this year will continue to add capabilities, assigning new functions to more multifinger gestures, full-palm gestures, and stylus data-entry.

When you’re not mobile, the Mac tablet docks into an iMac-like chassis. This may seem mundane at first, but don’t count on Apple leaving this as a simple, dumb display, with a relatively underfeatured tablet shouldering all of workload. Tucked inside this custom iMac you’ll find a larger, secondary hard drive (for extra storage or automatic backups), a beefed-up graphics chip, or even an extra processor, giving the tablet a power boost befitting a workstation.

Wait, it gets wilder…we dug up a patent from 2006 that describes a touch-sensitive bezel on the side of the case. It was probably originally designed for the iPod, but it fits much better with a tablet, as frequently used features (like volume control or even the Mac OS Dock) can be conveniently and unobtrusively housed without cluttering the screen, all accessible by sliding a finger down the side of the device.

This next idea actually leaves Earth’s orbit, but we didn’t come up with it, Apple did: A patent from June 2004 describes microcameras distributed across an LCD screen, situated between the pixels. With this technology inside a panel, you could hold a video chat and look your caller right in the eye, rather than downwardly gazing as today’s top-mounted webcams have you do. Instead, the whole screen would become a camera, letting you use it not just for chitchat but also as an impromptu, giant photographic camera or even a quickie fax machine.

Of course, we can’t expect these innovations to appear all at once, and some may not make it into the tablet at all. But of this we are sure: The tablet is coming, and it’s going to be a hot one.

Back to The Drawing Board

Join us on a trip down memory lane into Apple’s patent archives as we explore six coulda-been products that never went anywhere (and probably never will).

The Proto-iMac 1995

Somewhere between the Mac Classic and the iconic Bondi Blue iMac lies this nameless invention, a prehistoric iMac that paved the way for the computer we know and love today.

For its time, it might have even been considered cool. Apple’s quaint patent sketch (above) shows integrated speakers for listening to AIFF files, what could be a Zip drive, and even a phone cradle and integrated modem so you could play Global Thermonuclear War with renegade government servers at NORAD. But mostly we love the idea of picking up that always-at-the-ready handset to order a pizza without having to reach farther than our computer display

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benet

jc

June 30, 2008 at 5:49am

Hi , I was stoked to see this mac tablet in the mag . I hope it comes out , if it is anything like the other products from apple then yeah I want one . I currently use a samsung Q1 ultra umpc and have it hooked up to a 19 inch lcd monitor/tv with a wireless keyboard and mouse . For me it is a very handy tool because I fly in and out to work . I use it for movies on the plane and its not to bulky to throw into the back pack . When I'm on site I'm able to take it to work and check emails and keep in touch with everyone . I hate trying to use pda's or mobile's to check these things . It is also handy doing my banking on it . To see the conveniance of less wire's with the mac tablet sliding into the imac , It would be just what I need . I just hope they don't make the mistake of the processor in the sammy Q1 . I'm almost converted to mac , vista is giving me the S@#*S! Bring on the future seeya's

Joe

June 08, 2008 at 9:16pm

While I can't find the origin of the strategy, the other big reason Apple announces products and then immediately sells them is so that existing products don't see a drop in sales before a new product is to be released. For example, if Apple announced the latest iPod 6 months in advance, sales of the pod would drop constantly up until the release. When the general public is kept in endless anticipation for the next big thing, sales don't drop that much, other then before Mac World (conveniently positioned just after Christmas), before WWDC and mid Septemeber, the usual time of year that Apple announces the latest iPods for the holiday masses.

Fahad Alam

May 27, 2008 at 10:50pm

I don't like the way Apple doesn't allow other companies to make their own Macs, so I think they'll always have a niche market. Having many companies producing variants of the Mac would be great for consumers. That's why Apple won't do it. They want their money more than the happiness of the consumer, no matter what they say about their altruistic business methods and overarching dream of making technology great for people.

I also really, REALLY hate the whole Mac culture. It's incredibly obnoxious to walk into a store and hear people fawning over a piece of plastic and silicon like it's a baby or something--and then addressing you like some piece of mud because you have a Tablet PC in your backpack. I also don't understand why people are so devoted to the brand. There have been times when Apple's screwed up, like the 90s, and the only reason they stayed afloat is because people religiously bought the same Apple product multiple times, no matter how crappy it was. I had a friend who bought three of the old Macs, then 2 Mac Pros, 2 Macbook Pros, and now he has two iPhones. He doesn't use the other copies, they're just there as relics of his favorite institution, Apple, Inc. He keeps them in a trailer somewhere.

I don't understand why people do that with Apple products. To me, it's like a cult or something. I don't need a cult, or some sort of business theology. I'm already religious, so the whole fawning aspect of the culture turns me off, especially when it's being manipulated by a business to make itself more money--not to better other people's situation. I won't buy a Mac as long as I live, because I feel uncomfortable with the whole fanatic culture that's such a big part of the brand.

Dan dorfman

June 01, 2008 at 6:24pm

Oh really? the behavior you just talked about is a carbon copy of the microsoft behavior; even though people saw the pricetag of vista, heard about how it was incompatible with 2 year old computers, and heard of all it's glitches and slow speed, they STILL BOUGHT IT! at least macs don't have euthanasia built in.

Anonymous

June 01, 2008 at 1:08pm

even if you win your still a retarded.

one its obvious only one person who posted actually knows what a monopoly is. and if you think its you. its probably not.

and two the reason that they don't allow others to make their product is simple it would cause the company to crash. because they have to charge more for developing the product. while the other company takes the design and sell it for less.

and this argument about the glossy screens if you don't like them find another product instead of complain on message boards.

Anonymous

June 11, 2008 at 7:49am

I know this has nothing to do with this discussion but why do so many people have to drag special olympics into these things? I've seen it so many times and it's always the same juvenile uneducated comment "even if you win you're still..." Get away from your computer once in awhile, get outside and do something meaningful with your life. Go coach Special Olympic atheletes and have your eyes opened. (Bet most a lot of them are in better shape than you are)

Anonymous

May 29, 2008 at 6:10pm

It's because you still have a shitty PC you will never understand.

Andrew

May 17, 2008 at 9:17am

Great research!
Can you provide us with patent or application publication numbers for these inventions?

raindogg

May 15, 2008 at 8:27am

I like the new ideas but I'm sickened by the Glossy Screen road Apple is taking. It leaves me very little choice in what computer to choose. I'm hoping these new Mac Clones become more reliable so I have choices. Or better yet some attorney sues for a Monopoly for their Hardware and OS ties. I mean the bigger Apple gets and the more people that use OSX it will soon become a monopoly.

TheConfuzed1

May 21, 2008 at 10:44pm

It is not illegal to operate or maintain a monoploy. It is only illegal to abuse a monopoly.

urbain

May 15, 2008 at 11:30am

You said you love the new ideas. But in stead of giving your opinion on them, you just bash on other apple stuff that isn't related to the subject.

And to answer to your enlightning statements:
You have the choice already: buy a mac pro or a mini and a display you prefer. But still, you would only need a non-glossy display when you're in the publishing business. For all of the other things you can do with your mac: the glossy screens are great (I admit: at first I wasn't convinced either).

I really can't grasp why you would favor a clone over the real thing. Would you also buy a Chinese "ifone" when it gets more reliable just because the iPhone is the only phone on the market that comes with OS X and could become a monopoly? At least buy one with a non-glossy screen so YOU would feel you have the best phone out there.

You'll have to wait for that monopoly to rise for at least a decade, which I think will never come. By then cloud computing will be the standard. Do you really think that a marketshare of about 7% in the US can "soon" become a monopoly. Give me a break. Even here Europe there are still people who never heard of apple or OS X yet. (yes, there still are such people!)

Fazekas

May 21, 2008 at 10:07am

I agree with Raindogg regarding the glossy screens. I've tried to warm up to them, but honestly I hate them, not because they are merely glossy, but because there is a significant amount of glare and reflection on the screen in most environments that I personally find distracting from what is intended to be shown on the display, meaning hard to read and focus on the subject matter. Go into an Apple Store and notice all the things in the store being reflected onto the screens of the pretty iMacs. As far as Mac Mini / Mac Pro, I've heard arguments about this on many other blogs, the Mac Mini if pitifully underpowered, and the Mac Pro is overkill for most people, plain and simple. Apple either needs to offer Matte screen as an option on the iMac, or come up with a mini tower.

Anonymous

May 15, 2008 at 5:34am

Apple's secrecy catches competitors unawares. When other companies blather about future products, their competitors start planning another way of doing the same thing, and everyone's version of the product comes out at the same time.

Apple's competitors have no advance notice. They can't begin to plan until Apple's product is out. They can't even begin to know what they should plan!

That means that by the time the competitor's product is in version 1, Apple has already moved to version 2. Apple's competition is always playing catch-up. Apple gets them to use all their resources to find alternative ways of imitating Apple so that they have no resources left for innovation.

Randy

May 14, 2008 at 7:53pm

The drawing of the Proto iMac looks strikingly similar to the realized G3 All-In-One, sans speakers and phone (the A-I-O did have a ZIP drive and was housed in a case that looks almost exactly like the one in the picture)

Anonymous

May 18, 2008 at 8:35pm

This was my first Mac in the UK. I cant remember the exact name but it Was a powerpc version around 1997.

The drive looking like a zip was the CD tray.. It didnt have the phone but it had those little speakers and it could swivel around on a base thingy..

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